Meet Your Faculty - Dr. Steven Gerst

A respected expert in the field of health informatics, Dr. Steven Gerst is a leader in the current technical revolution that is taking place in healthcare. With extensive experience in the industry, Gerst has been at the fore-front of every major change that has taken place in healthcare within the last 40 years.

He is currently an “Entrepreneur in Residence” at The University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine where he is working with students and faculty towards cutting-edge techniques and inventions to improving modern healthcare. In addition to his role with UM’s School of Medicine, Gerst also serves as a faculty member with UM’s online Master of Science in Health Informatics program.

Gerst, who holds degrees from Columbia University (M.D., M.P.H and B.A.) and Emory (M.B.A), professional certificates from Harvard School of Business, Harvard Law School, and Harvard School of Public Health and is a Aresty Scholar with The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, has been most recently involved in the medical device industry, remote patient monitoring, chronic care management, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, genomics and telemedicine. In the classroom, he uses his experience, expertise and interests as a teaching tool for health informatics students.

“In my public health course, I am teaching genomics, epi-genomics, and precision medicine. I am able to really teach people about the innovations that are happening at their University. The nice thing about being in this field is that it is the cutting edge of health care. The materials that I teach are what we are also currently developing with some of the largest electronic medical records, Health IT companies, health systems, health insurers and private equity companies in the world. We are able to teach the students about what is coming because we are the one’s bringing it to market.”

Gerst encourages students to interact through class discussions and by providing constructive feedback on their work. He also tries to personally interact with his students by offering office hours in the evening and giving students his cell phone number to call him directly. He also collaborates with other health informatics faculty members to ensure his course includes a plethora of perspectives and insights.

“The caliber of people that I see teaching these courses is outstanding. They are real leaders in the industry and the community. We work together when we can and I have brought many of these leaders in as guest speakers for my course.”

Additionally, Gerst is able to provide unique mentorship opportunities to students, introducing them to industry professionals and new opportunities.

“I like being able to give back to my students and help where I can. For one of my students who was looking for an entry level job in clinical informatics, I was able to invite her to attend a national telemedicine conference in her area so she could see the new innovations we spoke about in class, meet companies first hand and interview for positions.”

As a UOnline faculty member Dr. Steven Gerst is there for his students and is dedicated to their success inside and outside the classroom.

“My students are looking to take the next step in their career. There is high demand for these professionals and the degree is your first step. We are training these students for the existing job market and the expansive growth in medical IT.”